A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an industrial endoscope, or more particularly, to an endoscope with sensor means by which the position and the moving direction of the distal end of the endoscope can be measured.
B. Description of the Prior Art
A common endoscope is an apparatus for observing such as a body cavity by illuminating an object with a light fed by fiber optic bundles and leading an image of said object to an eyepiece in a grip. In recent years, the endoscope has been used for industrial appliances. For example, it is used for inspecting cracks inside a reactor which radiates radioactive rays or inside a gas tank in which stored a poisonous gas. By the way, as an eyepiece is not provided in the industrial endoscope, the movement of the distal end in the reactor cannot be observed. For this reason, the distal end may collide against a solid wall of the object. Then, the distal end is damaged and, moreover, the position and the moving direction of it cannot at all be observed.